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What We Learned This Week: Red sky in the morning, Sailor’s warning
3.3k Plays3 days ago
Niko Moreno joins Jeremiah to discuss what they learned this week including the yacht in the room - the whole Ryan Sailor mess. They give injury updates on Paul Rothrock, Kim Kee-Hee and Georgi Minoungou with some positive and some worrying news. The pair also discussed the Sounders’ League Cup draw, explained the team’s current GAM situation and talked Stefan Frei being named starting goalkeeper for the Concacaf Champions League matches.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which has been primarily listener supported since 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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Transcript
Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
Episode Sponsorship
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network.
Episode Hosts and Topics
00:01:48
Speaker
I am Jeremiah O'Shan. It is Friday. i am joined at the Sounder Heart offices in the International District of Seattle by the one and only Nico Moreno. We're going to be doing what we learned this week, Nico.
00:02:02
Speaker
been no We got a lot. We got a lot this week. From the heart of the city, baby, we're in here. We are within Seattle. We're not in the outskirts. We're in here. That's because Jeremiah paying the bills put us out here in this beautiful location. I got the view of why am I in the society, the the people, the city. I'm feeling it, man. I like this. did This is very Seattle vibes. I know. Kind of, ah you know, raining. going on across the street. Yeah, man, I dig it. This is this my thing. Bogota right here, man. I'm like the city.
00:02:33
Speaker
It's my stuff, man. But yeah, we did learn a lot. There was there is maybe... to learn We learned too much this week. We learned more than that we even should learn about. and I think it's going to be a fun episode.
00:02:46
Speaker
So if you guys are listening out there, thank you, first of all. But buckle in, get your popcorn ready, and enjoy the show. Well, you know, you you served it up, so we might as well just start going right off the top ropes. ah This week was... a lot happened, but let's just start at the thing that I think most people that are online, at least, are
Ryan Saylor's White House Visit
00:03:09
Speaker
talking about. And that is that Sounders center back, Ryan Saylor, was spotted at the White House for Inter-Miami's, or as some call them, Miami FC's...
00:03:19
Speaker
ah Visit to the White House to celebrate MLS Cup. And, you know, he was just in the background, you know, kind of laughing and smiling as the president of the United States made jokes about invading sovereign nations and ah inappropriate celebrations and what other kind of stuff.
00:03:39
Speaker
And one hand, i don't know, hes he was on the team. So I guess he got invited to go and he went. On the other, seemed like he didn't really have to go.
00:03:50
Speaker
We asked Brian about it. Nico, what did you make of Brian's sort of response to the questions? I think Brian obviously prepped, and he's always going to be mindful of what he says. I think he, with without a doubt, protect the player by yeah giving him the prerogative to do what he do. did not him under the bus. Didn't throw him under the bus. Did not get political on it, which he also could have. He could have.
00:04:20
Speaker
But I think that the most acceptable you know thing he could have criticized if there was a need to or if he felt like he had to would be that you know he has been hurt, he's been injured,
00:04:35
Speaker
The commitment part of it is yeah what I would, if I was a coach, be like, ah even if I'm not saying it to the press, maybe I'm thinking it like, okay, man, you haven't really played. You haven't trained. You haven't trained at all. ah You are under a regimen of this rehab and...
00:04:52
Speaker
for whatever reason, and i in I'm sure he understands that going to the White House is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the travel, the distraction, the days that he's off, whether it's two or three, it's kind of taking you away from the main objective, which everyone hopes that is getting you back on the field. And if that seems like expectation that's too high,
00:05:17
Speaker
then I don't know what we expect out of our you know professional players sometimes, I guess, because this wasn't a family emergency. This wasn't something that he had to do. It wasn't a requirement. Again, I am totally okay with him having that right to celebrate with his former teammates.
00:05:36
Speaker
But I would feel if I was a coach, some sort of way that you're kind of getting away from what we're doing here to go to do something a little bit more more Hollywood, or if you will, or something that's not necessarily ah ah necessity. Yeah, so I guess the way I feel about it, and I'm trying to remove myself from making it too political, because I'm going to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt that he is not doing this as a conscientious endorsement of what's going on in the government right now. And by the way, we are literally...
00:06:14
Speaker
waging war on a region of the kind of the world. And I don't know that it's a good look, even... for the president to be welcoming sports teams to the white house right now, given the state of the world, like it just doesn't seem like an, a necessary thing to do. i don't know. Maybe Miami is playing DC this week and it was just on the schedule or whatever, but it just seems like would have been ah like, there's a lot of levels of this that you could second guess the whole thing, but I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt that this is not that he did not think about it
Sounders' Injury Challenges
00:06:48
Speaker
politically. He thought about it as simple,
00:06:50
Speaker
as I've been invited to go do a thing that I'm proud of achieving with my old teammates, and I'm being celebrated, and I want to participate in that. i'm I'm going assume that was his mindset.
00:07:03
Speaker
I think for me, if I'm his coach, I'm not going to tell him not to go, but I'm internally thinking i would have liked it if you didn't go. i would have liked it if you had made that decision yourself because it's a distraction.
00:07:17
Speaker
It's a bad look. it and it And I think it it does sort of bring up this whole thing. Ryan Saylor was signed in the offseason. As far as we know, he is not trained at all with the first team that he has been hurt. Basically, he I guess maybe he is guess the story that is ah I'm assuming is true is that on one of the first days he was there, he did some jogging and he was uncomfortable.
00:07:41
Speaker
And they immediately looked into it and they found out that he has a degenerative knee issue, which we don't really understand. We don't we didn't get a lot of details on that, but it doesn't sound good. And it doesn't sound like he's anywhere close to he's at least four or five weeks away from coming back at best.
00:07:56
Speaker
probably four or five weeks before he's even training. ah And if I like you, like yeah he's like you said, i would rather him be focused on getting himself ready and contributing to the team he's on now, not going flying across the country to be a prop for, you know, the president of the United States.
00:08:18
Speaker
This is where I also understand people's frustration and where I feel like everyone has a right to criticize Ryan Saylor. And I mean that not because...
00:08:35
Speaker
It is fair because we don't know what's behind his reasoning or motivations to go, but because you put yourself in that situation, Jeremy. Right, exactly. You expose yourself for scrutiny. Yep. And everyone should know that, whether it's his inner circle or his agent or his mom and dad, brother, whoever it is that he goes to for advice. There should have been someone who said, you know what? You're going to hear from people.
00:09:04
Speaker
Some people might love it. Some people might hate it. Is this something that you really want to be exposed to? And if you do then fine and well. So when you put yourself in a situation, i can't sit here and feel bad because people are going to give you he for making that decision. Now, I'm not saying that that has to be, you know, compounded by the fact that he's injured and and maybe taking it to a whole other level. But you're putting yourself in ah in a position where you're exposing yourself. regardless of how low in the roster you are, you're still a public figure. You're still an athlete and you're going to be scrutinized no matter what. So by putting himself in that position, he decided to go there. Yeah. And let's talk about what really matters in terms of the acquisition, because you mentioned it. Um,
00:10:01
Speaker
It's still not necessarily clear for me, but the reality, something was missed. something was Something was missed. Whether not checking or was avoided, he clearly had an knee an ah an existing knee issue that was not brought to the Sounders' attention until he was already signed and ready to start playing.
00:10:27
Speaker
Maybe if he wasn't your fifth option at center back and a domestic non-cap type of move, right you might be making a bigger deal out of it.
00:10:37
Speaker
There's no lemon rule when it comes to getting players. I've checked. But the reality is is that you could probably have done something differently. And maybe those medicals might have been...
00:10:50
Speaker
more stringent or you might have done your due diligence a little bit tighter but the optics are still not great jeremiah i mean you know for all of the the heat that i usually try to contain when it comes to people's ideas about the scouting for the sounders and them being the type of club that tries to take advantage of situations where players are either hurt or on their way out of clubs or whatever that
Scouting and Medical Concerns
00:11:21
Speaker
might be. You're kind of feeding to the narrative. Right. And and that just just looks bad. Now, again, I have all of the confidence in the scouting department. I think they do a phenomenal job, but I do think that things get missed in this one.
00:11:35
Speaker
Clearly, that's what happened. And and if people are going to be frustrated by it and criticize it, then it's fair because something just didn't go right when it came to the Ryan Seller acquisition. Now, I have heard on my own terms from people close to Inter-Miami and people who know this player,
00:11:56
Speaker
way before he even came to MLS, I had not heard great things. And so I wasn't necessarily on board with things, but I do give the scouting department, especially...
00:12:08
Speaker
um sean henderson the benefit of the doubt that they have particular skills in ryan sailor that they felt that were interested enough to take a swing at it and to bring him in as a debt piece for this situation now so we can conclude this uh because i do want to go back to the whole white house thing i don't want to leave it what where where we left it. I will say that this is a big bigger deal than it is. I mean, the injury, because Kim Kihi's hurt, right because Stuart Hawkins is hurt, because you're clearly dealing with a situation where now is it Tina Lopez? Do you go outside and what get an international player that is not going to be available for three or four weeks now? between the paperwork the move if you get a experience mls guy within domestically then when those young players that you want to see play are here now there's going to be another block for their minutes to be had so it's a difficult situation in general but let's conclude on the ryan saylor visit to the white house because i think that there's more to be said perhaps
00:13:19
Speaker
I mean, i I don't know how much more there is to be said. I think, it's i think again, it brings up – what it does is it brings a lot of this injury stuff back to the forefront, is that it calls attention to all these other things. And these are maybe things that we have conveniently ignored up until now.
00:13:36
Speaker
And i if I am going to give the Sounders the benefit – It's put. I think if I'm going to give the Sounders some benefit of the doubt, it's that ryanlands Ryan Saylor was maybe their fifth option. and that they had expected Stuart Hawkins and Kim Kehee to be taking these minutes.
00:13:49
Speaker
And so maybe it's on... um it's like the there's some frustration to be pointed at them for not, you know, being fit here. And that's, ah you know, that's unfortunate. It's, you know, it's Stuart Hawkins, it's not his fault that he got hurt. It's not Kim Kihee's fault he's got hurt. But Kim Kihee was a player who was injured at the end of last year.
00:14:14
Speaker
And there was some concern about his health. And, you know, maybe they should have been a little bit more skeptical of re-signing him. even at the league veteran veteran minimum,
00:14:27
Speaker
it all goes back to the same thing as Ryan Saylor. Yes, he's your fifth option, but he's still a guy in your roster, and you don't want guys that you can't even put on the field. You need bodies. You need healthy bodies. I mean, that's like the bare minimum bar for you having players in in your roster. So it is a difficult situation, and i will say this when it comes to the the optics of Ryan Saylor at the White House.
00:14:58
Speaker
no matter what, no matter which way you see it, like you mentioned, there was no need for him to be there. Had he not gone, nobody would have known. No would have noticed. No would known, because it looked like finding Waldo on a picture, because I had heard that he was there, and I looked at some photos, and he wasn't really there, and then finally Franco Peniso put like a close-up, and then that's where I saw it.
00:15:23
Speaker
So... When you're making that much of an effort to to go and be there, and I will let let it be known, i have been in the United States for a long time, since 2000, and this is the first time that I find myself so conflicted with...
00:15:43
Speaker
where I am because I always felt like I was moving from a country that the government typically does what's best for them and not for the people. And I always felt like I came to this place where there was just all checks and balances and this justice and stuff. And this is the first time where I feel like there's a lot going on where it it hits me differently. So I can understand people feeling really passionate about one of their players being...
00:16:08
Speaker
in the White House representing, even if it's by default, because he hasn't really played for the Sounders, but but but themselves in there. So i I have no problem people being upset about it. And I just hope that this was an experience worth the headaches for Ryan Saylor and that when he comes back, he comes back ready to work and focus on objective number one, which is getting some minutes.
00:16:35
Speaker
yeah Getting healthy. and I'll just add this. I think it's kind of a funny little note. I don't know this for certain, but best I can tell, i think Inter-Miami might be the first and MLS team that Donald Trump welcomed to the White House. I don't know that he had ever had...
00:16:53
Speaker
I don't know if if because he, you know, for sure, the Sounders never went in 20. i guess that's probably not true. I would imagine during his first term, there must have been some. But the Sounders never went in 20 after they won in 2019. And I think the crew were the next team to go 2024. And that was to Biden.
00:17:11
Speaker
And so like and MLS teams just are not normally invited to the White House, which is kind of like it hasn't been that way, especially since COVID. And so it's kind of a funny thing that this come came up. It certainly came out of the blue for me. I was not even it was not even on my radar that Ryan Saylor might be there. I just didn't think that.
00:17:30
Speaker
Why would he go? You know, like, why are they inviting bottom of the roster players from last year's team? In some ways, I guess that's cool for Miami to invite him. That's a great point. You know what? The fact that he was in the chat group. Exactly. In the group chat or in the thread of emails, whatever happened there, mean, it is, I guess, cool that a guy that didn't really do much was there. I mean, he barely played. I mean, I'm not trying to make fun of him, but he didn't really play a lot for them last year. The last time he played for them a lot was pre-Martino.
00:18:08
Speaker
because you mentioned this, like what was Sinclair there, right? People were always wondering. I mean, that's, you know. Yeah, I mean, there's a whole there's a whole mess to go with that. ah But it does sort of illustrate, it is it does bring up this whole injury situation that is surrounding the Sounders.
00:18:25
Speaker
And like we said, Kim Ki-hee is out. It looks like the good news on Ki-hee, there was some good news on Kim Ki-hee. I did not hear the interview that Brian Schmetzer gave to KJ earlier this week, but apparently he made it sound like Kim had a really significant setback and that he might be out for a while.
00:18:39
Speaker
Turns out he might be back as early as next week, that it was a much more minor setback than they originally thought. And so Kim may be closer to returning. And then Stu Hawkins is probably still, what, three weeks out or so.
00:18:54
Speaker
And then we'll you know we'll see. But the the other injury situation that is coming up here is what seemed like their deepest position was so deep that it was almost like what are they going to do with all these players was winger.
Winger Injuries Impact Strategy
00:19:07
Speaker
And Paul Rothrock, we found out this week, was hurt. That was Pedro De La Vega, obviously already out. Jordan Morris already out. Georgie Manungu missed this last week, although he was back in training.
00:19:18
Speaker
Paul Rothrock did not train at all this week. But then today we were told that he will potentially travel and that they're basically giving him pain meds or anti-inflammatory meds to help control his, I guess, swollen ankle.
00:19:33
Speaker
ah He was inside. We saw him training inside today. So maybe the situation isn't quite as bad as it was starting to look like because it was getting pretty thin at at Winger.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah, a couple of things there. I saw the Kim Ki-hee setback. It was on a 7v7 drill, and it looked painful. I mean, he definitely went to go um battle a 50-50 ball, and you could just see him plant his foot hard, and he immediately took himself out. I mean, it was to the point where they had to stop the game completely. Do know what the injury did? It was It it was the same calf. It looked like the same calf that he He's been dealing with this calf injury since six months. Yeah, he got surgery on and things before the season. And so it is something to watch. And because like I said, he took himself out to the point where they had to completely stop the 7v7, get somebody else from another of the exercises and bring him in because he was just done. So hopefully he he can do better.
00:20:34
Speaker
When it comes to the poor Rothrock situation, he hasn't been even partial training. so No, he hasn't trained at all this week. He's not going play. that To me, like, hey, there isn't a a, I don't know. There's no reason to there's no reason to force him in. Yeah. Right? Especially when you have options, I guess, ah whether it's with wingbacks. Or Snyder. Or Snyder getting wider. Or whatever it is. I think that there's things that you can do to mitigate.
00:21:02
Speaker
for a St. Louis game that, no respect St. Louis, but maybe, you know, there they're a decent team and we'll talk about them. But I think that you could be like, we're going to be all right by just not forcing something worse to happen to Paul.
00:21:13
Speaker
Right, exactly. And on that same token, Georgie Manungu was all in for training the last two days, I think. He looked good. He looked really, really good. i want They were doing these finishing drills.
00:21:28
Speaker
I want to say he scored on every single attempt that he did. I mean, he was just lights out on this finishing drill. Now, he does not look like he's going to start, but he does look like he'll be available off the bench.
00:21:40
Speaker
If they can get him fit and ready to go, he he's you know in case you didn't know, he has a a small, they said a small fracture on his foot. ah Brian went out of his way to point out that a bunch of different doctors have looked at it that they've had scans on it that and that it's not in danger of getting worse and it's basically a pain tolerance issue and I will say that very happily that Georgie did not look like he was in any pain or discomfort today and was dancing around and looking very happy so that's that is one positive injury bit
00:22:12
Speaker
Yeah, he he left a little earlier ah yesterday. he just didn't do part of you know certain eleven b eleven work. But at the same time, today he looked great. He did the whole full practice. He's been bending the crap out of the ball. He's looked really good there. I mean, the whole day before, they were working on you know volleys and and and just one-touch stop of shooting. But you know today, when when he came to cutting inside that Plastic defender and then just curbing the ball. He was killing it. Yeah, he would. I mean, every i mean just bending it every single time. ah he You know, he's a fun player. If he can get going, that would be it would put a lot of, i think, emotions at ease, calm things down a little bit.
00:23:00
Speaker
The other player that is that it is probably worth watching this week is Snyder Brunel, just because it looks like he might get an extended run out. I really liked what I saw from him against ah RSL. I don't necessarily think being a wide attacking player is his best position, but it's a neat little trick to get him on the field. if and And he didn't look out of place at all when he was doing it against St. Louis or sorry, Salt Lake.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah, for me, he's the guy that ah could you know potentially ah amplify what you do in this particular game against St. Louis. They are a team dad can be very um vulnerable to transition moments, and I thought that in the...
00:23:50
Speaker
Minutes he had at RSL. He did a great job at defending, quick turnaround, getting the ball out into spaces. i also think that he finds pockets very easily. For the amount of time that he was in, how influential he was at certain attacking areas was was very interesting. And I think he's his his IQ, the way he sees the game, is definitely at a higher level than his age or his game experience. So, yeah, he's a guy to watch.
00:24:20
Speaker
I don't want to scare anybody, but i did see Osase with a bit of a limp ah yesterday. He's been wearing some sort of brace on his knee, On his knee, yeah. It looks like he's still – mean, he's all in it training. That's good. but He has been.
00:24:34
Speaker
He's something to watch. He does have some is something worth watching. There was also a bit of a scare today at training. Albert Rusnak, something happened, and he all of a sudden went to the sideline and was in obvious, obvious pain, and he had his hands on his face, and at first you're going like, oh, no. And I saw him grabbing sort of like his inner thigh,
00:24:57
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, no, did he did he do something? And then ah eventually he starts walking around and squatting and doing all this kind of stuff. And you start to get the universal sign that this is not a muscle injury, but a pain issue after being hit somewhere in the below the belt area.
00:25:17
Speaker
Right. You got hit where it hurts. And sometimes I'll take you out. Breathe in. You're strangling your body. Once you started seeing them moving certain ways, you're like I know that move.
00:25:27
Speaker
I know that move. Yeah, the the the centers definitely don't need any more injuries, but I feel like i have found myself watching practice just like, oh, is he up? Did he get hurt? Is that a shoulder? Is that a pinky? Like, yeah. I know. We're there. i mean it's getting You know, it's funny how every year, you know, we say this, don't get too wrapped up in who the best 11 Because the ah reality is that we don't get to actually see a fully, you know, all 30 guys on the roster being ready to go at the same time. It just does not happen that often. And we are getting a very stark reminder of that.
00:26:05
Speaker
Now, whether hopefully this is all kind of coming to a head at exactly the right time, because starting Wednesday so or starting Thursday, The schedule gets very, very crowded. The Sounders have, i believe, five games in essentially two weeks.
00:26:23
Speaker
This is not the time to have an injury crisis. Hopefully they've got guys coming back and not going the other way because it could get pretty messy. yes and uh for specific positions i mean you cannot you might as well just bubble wrap both yamar and jackson um as you travel anywhere i mean put him you know with tsa you somewhere else i just i don't know but you you want to take care of these guys because that's the last thing you need um i do uh worry a little bit about the the striking position if something was happening to the rosario
00:26:57
Speaker
you know, maybe you're forced to play Ferreira up there. If Danny Masovsky obviously being the number one, but then later you could do maybe a Jesus. But there are some areas that you don't want to take any hits on. Yeah, I would totally agree. They they cannot, ill they can ill afford any more injuries. Well, I think we're going to take a little bit of a break.
Sounder at Heart Magazine Launch
00:27:15
Speaker
We're going come back, talk about this GAM information that just got released by the league. We're going to do a preview of St. Louis City FC. You're listening to Nos Adietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network.
00:27:29
Speaker
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00:28:11
Speaker
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00:28:31
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:28:56
Speaker
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00:29:02
Speaker
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00:29:20
Speaker
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00:29:26
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adiates on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. All right. Well, we got a few more things to discuss.
Sounders' Historic Match in Mexico
00:29:33
Speaker
Let's do one more news item, and that is League's Cup schedule came out this week, and we had heard that there was going to be some games in Mexico.
00:29:43
Speaker
We didn't know how those games would be decided. it turns out that Toluca, who is the two-time reigning Liga Ameki's champion, is going to host two games.
00:29:55
Speaker
Tigres is going to host one game, and America is going to host one game. And as luck would have it, the Sounders will be the first ever MLS team to play a road game in Mexico in League's Cup when they face Toluca on August 5th.
00:30:16
Speaker
That is a doozy of a matchup for the Sounders. Toluca, in case you don't know, is at like 8,900 feet above sea level.
00:30:27
Speaker
It is basically in the Mexico City metroplex. Kind of a... outside of the core of Mexico City, but it's kind of part of the greater Mexico City area.
00:30:38
Speaker
Toluca is supposed to be a great town, but they have a really, really good soccer team, as evidenced by their two-time reigning champion ah titles there. But this is certainly turns the Sounders' path to defending League's Cup into a much more complicated task.
00:30:56
Speaker
ah They'll come back after that game. They'll play Corretaro on August 9th, I believe, a home game. Corretaro is not a particularly good team right now.
00:31:08
Speaker
And then they close out at home against Chivas. I believe this is the second time they'll have played Chivas in a competitive match at home.
00:31:19
Speaker
They did play Chivas back in 2010 in a friendly in which ECS was boycotting. And then I think a lot of people remember that Chivas fans basically took over the stadium for that game.
00:31:30
Speaker
I don't think that's what's gonna happen in this one, but it could be a really good crowd. What do you make of this draw, Nico?
00:31:39
Speaker
I believe the Sounders got a tough one, as ah hu they usually do when it comes to certain tournaments. Man, this one is ah it's probably as bad as it as he gets right now. because to she to look The Tuluka game on the road is the toughest game that anyone's going to play. Exactly. So that that's number one. Tuluka on the road, hardest game anyone is going to play.
00:32:03
Speaker
Toluca is not just a phenomenal team with a great coach, a difficult venue to play in, like as hard as he gets. But they also get Chivas, who they have found their groove again. They're third in the standings. So funny enough, Toluca second, Chivas third. I mean, how bad does he get? I know. So this is going to be difficult for sure. I'm curious to see how.
00:32:30
Speaker
Brian's going to manage some of those matchups, especially the one away onto Luka. I've heard mixed things about acclimating to elevation. so i don't know. I just I think that there's a lot of interesting components to this. Chivas, they do travel hard, man. i I understand that we had ah the Leagues Cup here and we tamed the the pink jerseys around the stadium. But Chivas, man, they're different, man. You saw how blue the stadium was for the Cruz Azul. game i mean there'll be a lot of there will definitely be i've heard people say it will be like a home game for chivas i don't think that's going to be the case that might be too much but there are going to be a lot of chivas maybe 60 40 i'll call it 60 40. there's going to be a lot chivas fans here i don't think there's any question about that uh and you know it comes at a point in the schedule
00:33:20
Speaker
where the Sounders come back from the World Cup break about a month before that. They come back on July 16th, and they'll be basically you playing two games a week through the League's Cup. ah like actually up in like August is going to be crazy. July and August are going to be absolutely crazy.
00:33:42
Speaker
And that's going to be a challenge. They've got to be fit. They better be fit by the time. They better have players available because it's going to get, that's going to grinder, especially having to go to, like I said, going to Toluca is not an easy road trip.
00:33:58
Speaker
I mean, they the good thing is they can fly straight into, if they have a charter, they can fly straight to Toluca. But getting, i mean, that's ah that's a big road trip to have to just throw on the, the just to throw in the middle of the schedule when, you know, part of what was so great about Leagues Cup is that you could play all the games, you could almost play all the games at home. They only had to go on the road once last year in the tournament, and that was to go to l LA, a relatively short road trip.
00:34:23
Speaker
I mean, this by itself is more than they've probably traveled in their entire Leagues Cup history. And that's why I asked Brian about what tournament would he favor this year. He said MLS.
00:34:38
Speaker
We'll see how that goes because I know that he likes to give his him gives his team his teams a chance to win every game. ah But that's going to be one where, you know, if you're going to, you know, put your eggs in the League's Cup basket, it's going to take a lot of resources and a lot of – minutes from from players and and and you got to be careful with injuries. You got to be careful with overextending certain players. so yeah, it's going to be a a difficult couple of months for the Sounders. It is.
00:35:10
Speaker
ah One of the other things that's kind of funny about this is the... You know, I realize that League's Cup has never taken competitive balance particularly seriously. That's never been sort of the underpiddings of this tournament. It's exclusively been played in the United States and Canada up until now.
00:35:27
Speaker
But it does seem like an interesting choice because what it does, it creates a real... Yes, it's there is a fairness factor to the Liga and Mechies teams to let them host some games. But there now becomes...
00:35:39
Speaker
So four MLS teams will have to play one game on the road while the other 14 do don't have to leave. the United States. That also seems like a weird competitive balance.
00:35:53
Speaker
You know, the Sounders were 10th in the table. So, you know, maybe the fact that they had to play at Toluca, that's a rough draw, but what are you going to do It's not like they were, you know, but one of the other teams that had two of the other teams that have to travel are San Diego and Vancouver.
00:36:07
Speaker
They were like two and three in the table. like How did they end up having to go on the road? that then you If I'm them, i'm kind of frustrated that you had this good finish and that you end up getting a draw that forces you to go to Mexico, which puts you at a real disadvantage. Because let's remember, the way the League's Cup works is that you're not necessarily going up against the League. i mean You're playing the League at Amech's teams, but the advancement is not determined by the... There's two separate tables. There's the MLS table and there's the League at Amech's table.
00:36:36
Speaker
So the 14 teams that are not traveling have a decided advantage to advance because you have to finish in the top four. It'll be interesting to see if any of these four teams that have to go to Mexico end up advancing. There's always going to be that, Jeremiah, whenever you have two different leagues in two different countries. That's why I laugh when I hear people talk about how MLS teams should be playing Libertadores next year. the logistics are just always going to be difficult to to to come by. I've been hearing from people that are within those talks of what that would look like, and they're
00:37:13
Speaker
is some sort of proposition about hosting some games in like the Southern part of the country. So there's like equal travel for teams in South America to you, some craziness. So that's always going
Stefan Fry Leads in Champions Cup
00:37:27
Speaker
to be interesting. But one thing that we did learn this week about this convoluted schedule is that Stefan Fry is going to lead the way for CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament. And that was big for me. i was not expecting b Brian to come out and say it.
00:37:53
Speaker
He said he's already talked to both Andrew and Steph. So, wow, that was interesting. Yeah, and you i mean you would imagine that will probably be the same thing for League's Cup. And that is, you know, it is big. you know And he made it sound sort of like, well, of course, this is what I'm going to do. This is what I did for for Andrew.
00:38:10
Speaker
It's not quite what he did for Andrew. I mean, the reality is that Steph got... League and Champions Cup. And it was just League's Cup and US Open Cup that Andrew was was playing in.
00:38:23
Speaker
And so it's... yeah I'm not second guessing this, but he sort of treated it, I thought, a little bit more like, well, of course, this is what we're going to do. And I appreciate... That Steph Wright, I mean, i'm I'm curious to see Steph Wright. We have not heard from Steph really since last year.
00:38:39
Speaker
We haven't heard from him since Andrew replaced him in the shootout even, really, if you want to get down to it. So it'll be interesting to, I hope that we actually get a chance to talk to Steph. I'm curious how he's, we you know, we've only heard through Brian how Steph has handled sort of the the goalkeeper battle.
00:39:01
Speaker
As someone who spends way too much time at training, I do a lot of staff watching. And although I would agree that he has lost a step or two when it comes to, you know, shot stopping and his explosiveness to get from one end to the other, he's still such a good goalkeeper. There was a couple of saves this week that only he could make. There was one where Alex Rodin gets a turnover on a 7v7, by the way. So he's like right in front of goal. And he tries to,
00:39:41
Speaker
fake Steph into beating himself so he could easily chip it over, but he knows what's coming so he he waits and is patient and as he kinda leans his body down, finally Alex tries to chip him and he just hits it.
00:39:57
Speaker
There's just a certain level of intelligence that goes with how Stephen Fry approaches the game. There was a big save off of a header from De Rosario that I thought it was great. He stopped a huge shot from Jesus Ferreira in the exact same exercise. I mean, that the guy can still goalkeep. I mean, he keeps his body right. He continues to have a lot of those um X factors that a a goalkeeper has yelling, directing traffic, do this. Him and Nuhu get into it a whole bunch of times. I mean, he really is still the same stuff, just leading by example, leading with his word. So I'm um um curious to see how he performs.
00:40:43
Speaker
And i I will, this is maybe a little...
00:40:48
Speaker
overly optimistic, but I do think there is a possibility that this is a real boon for the Sounders because Steph Fry, I don't know if he's capable. I don't know. what I don't know enough about his fitness that, you know, playing 35 games a year, if his body can still do that, but if he can still play, you know, eight to 10 games a year at a really high level,
00:41:13
Speaker
maybe he's even better in these smaller windows than he would be in than he was last year. would And he was still and ah a good goalkeeper last year. So I think this is a smart move by the Sounders. I think like I said, I think Brian underplayed a little bit, but I think it's it makes sense and it could be good. And I'm excited to see how Steph looks, especially because of this Jeremiah list.
00:41:36
Speaker
Address the big rave green elephant in the room. Last year you were doing it because were giving the time to the next guy up. The the guy who was clearly...
00:41:49
Speaker
the the younger, fitter guy. Now you're putting the responsibility on Stephen Fry that by all accounts we we absolutely love and we respect dearly, but he's definitely not somebody fighting the number one position. He's the clear number two. right So if things go sideways, there is room for for criticism. yeah So i I praise Brian on the decision. It takes a lot of You know what? To cojones. You know what I mean? to To really put yourself out there and be like, this is the dishes making. I'm sticking to it. And I do have confidence that Steph will come out to play and he is going to perform. But Vancouver ain't no pushover, man. Vancouver is a quality team, specifically with some...
00:42:42
Speaker
very good finishers whether it's brian white where there is thomas muller i mean az jackson has looked fantastic i mean this is the team that could put you under a lot of the rest so this is not steph going against queretaro or against san luis or some of these teams that you know maybe you're like okay well we might not get a lot of heat he's gonna have to bring it against vancouver Yeah, I think this is going to be a good test for him.
00:43:09
Speaker
This whole period is going to be a really good test for the Sounders as a whole. You know, it's it's funny. The Sounders are... This is sort of how the Sounders structure their seasons is that they get these tests early on and we kind of set a narrative of what they're going for. You know, they've made a lot of talk about wanting to go after us. You know, just this week, Jesus Ferreira mentioned to you that they they still want to go after the the Supporters' Shield. And this is...
00:43:35
Speaker
Like this is the time of year where you can't win the supporter shield, but you can definitely lose it. Oh, yeah. You can't win Champions Cup, but you can definitely lose it so you know, this is an important part of it. We're getting into some important games here. And the St. Louis game coming up this week is a big one.
00:43:53
Speaker
ah You know, they have four more league games on the road before they come back home. i think it's I don't think it's disrespecting St. Louis to say that this is probably the most winnable of those games. That doesn't mean it's ah an easy game that doesn't make the other ones unwinnable.
00:44:12
Speaker
But if you're circling one game that you want to get, it's got to be this game, right? Absolutely. St. Louis, for all accounts, I will say this.
00:44:24
Speaker
They want to play good soccer. And I think that when I look into the team and what Dammit wants to do with his style of play, they want to play out of the back. They want to possess the ball. They they had moments against ah San Diego. San Diego, is' could they could be the best team in the Western Conference. like Watching them play, just just the eye test, they're so...
00:44:51
Speaker
Good. The best team in possession, without a doubt. They're so sound defensively. And there was a point where it could have been 1-1. Batcher miss misses a a sitter in front of goal, but there's a nice passing sequence. I really like what Durkin and Daniel Edelman do in midfield for him. They depend a lot of them to really control the tempo, create those moments of distribution. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
I do think that this is going to be a game where if you're not careful in transition, if you're not careful in moments where maybe they are going to go from playing short, short, long and hit you direct in certain moments, you can find yourself in in some problems. Clearly, they have a a phenomenal goalkeeper that likes to go long, that has a very good ability to do that. So there's going to be some tests for Seattle, but you're right.
00:45:42
Speaker
When it's all said and done, the Sounders are the clear favorite. They have the responsibility to win this game. And I would think that out of the games coming up, it is the easiest one simply because of where it falls on the calendar. Exactly. And for no other reason than this is the game where they're on full rest. They're not going to be on full rest for most of these other games. I don't know if they're going to be fun for us for any of them.
00:46:02
Speaker
I guess there's one. Maybe there's one that comes after the international break, but I think that's also Minnesota, which is the probably the toughest on paper opponent that they play during this stretch.
00:46:14
Speaker
And you know this is just a game, I think if they have... aspirations of winning are finishing high in the Western conference. This is the kind of game where you, you got to win some road games. And this is one of those ones that they gotta, they gotta think they can win.
00:46:31
Speaker
and, and it looks like lineup wise, it's not going to be their best lineup, but I don't think they're doing any rotation really. Like this seems to be the game where they're going go into it with the idea of let's try to get points here and then we'll see how it looks. We'll see how we come out of it and then we'll put the best lineup we can for Vancouver. But they're going into this game, not assuming that they not rotating.
00:46:54
Speaker
Right. And I'm not sure. how you know some of the necessities to, let's say, add ah Snyder Brunel in combination to the pivots that you already have, how how that's going to work Right off the bat, it worked with RSL because it's later in the game. yeah you're You're chasing it. RSL was kind of dropping deep.
00:47:21
Speaker
So i'm I'm curious of how they're going to set it up. Is it going to 3-4-2-1, which will kind of mirror what St. Louis gives you? Is it going to be more of a traditional 4-2-3-1? And, you know, is it Bernal going to be the wing or or are you going to do something else? There are some very interesting components to this. And how many minutes players get in this one, not just because of the midway game, but also because you have a guy like Paul Arriola that could only give you x amount of minutes. I think Alex Roldan has played way too many minutes. He's a Roldan. I get it. He's a Roldan. But still, I'd be careful with him. You got to figure they're going to look for a way to get him off the field, like,
00:48:01
Speaker
Kalani Kosarienzi, you figure, is going to get some minutes coming up. You've got to figure Paul Areola is in for some minutes. You've got figure Giorgio Minungu is in for some minutes. Obviously, Danny Masofsky, during this stretch of games, you've got to figure he's going to get a starter too.
00:48:17
Speaker
ah You can maybe get Petkovic some more minutes in the midfield. So there's some options in there. But, you know, they have to be picky. And I think, again, like the best lineup they have right now is probably going to be going against St. Louis. And we'll see how that goes. The Sounders have had some success at St. Louis.
00:48:37
Speaker
ah The game that they lost there last year, I believe, was the first time they'd lost to St. Louis. That was a 1-0 game, kind of a weird game where they gave up a a free kick on a...
00:48:48
Speaker
I remember it was ah a poor giveaway by Jackson Reagan, and then then he had to fa he had to commit a foul, and they scored on free kick. And then the Sounders couldn't find their own goal. So this is a place they've had some success.
00:49:01
Speaker
They don't have a lot of history there. But you know i think it it sets up well. I mean, if they can get this win, it it looks a lot different. And if they don't get this win, then all of a sudden, they're looking at potentially a rough start to the season.
00:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, and i will say this about sin Louis, there are some pieces that are still... trying to be figured out. I think Mama Dufault could start this one. he He was on the bench. He's a player that was very good with LAFC. He was outbrow with Barcelona. He is obviously back. It's going to be interested interesting how they handle the left side. i like Rafael Santos, but when Pompeo came into the field, he did give him a little bit more of a deeper thread on that left side. um
00:49:49
Speaker
Hardo is the the guy that I would i would watch. what What is his status necessarily for this one? It would be very interesting as well because he is without a doubt that the player that would concern me the most, but he hasn't been been playing. It's been mainly... Oh, interesting.
00:50:10
Speaker
Jong Sung Bin. Yeah. The guy from Minnesota. He was Minnesota Yes, there you go. And he played a little wingback. He played little winger. i hit him Him and Betcher have their moments. I think Toucher is a good guy coming off the bench. and Nice port plug for him. He ah had a a very good...
00:50:28
Speaker
attempt at just taking on everybody and and the defense against San Diego. He takes on like three people like in the 88th minute. He shoots it. It's not very hard and Sargent gets it out of the line. i'm talking about he was about to cross the line. So, you know, they have some moments. I would say that This is a team that is not – I'm not feeling as confident as I was against Colorado, who, funny enough, ironically, ended up having a very good week two against the Timbers. but But this one, you know, I think it has some elements that could make it a ah a closer game than people may think. Yeah.
00:51:09
Speaker
By no means is this a ah win – a game where the center should dominate. I just think it's relative to the rest of the schedule, a game that they – should be taking seriously, should be really looking at it as a potential win, and hopefully, you know, moving on from there. Set pieces, Jeremiah. For me, set that is something... that The Sounders, believe it or not, in that RSL game, they were dangerous on set pieces. They were, yeah. I mean, they didn't...
00:51:36
Speaker
They only scored one. They don't score one, which that's what you yeah happens with type pieces. But they were dangerous. They were getting at the end of them. And I do believe that if there is one thing, one thing, could clearly, Obed Bargain is a much better or it feels like he's a more more more transcending, traditionalist. generational type player than Hassani Dotson but Hassani's aerial game is pretty good man I've been watching him this week and he got ups and he really strikes the ball with with some pace with headers I think him and game are going to be very very interesting to watch in this game in set pieces because they were close against RSL I feel like they'll be able to take some advantage some moments at San Luis with set pieces Absolutely.
00:52:21
Speaker
Well, a couple more things before we get out of here. ah One of them is the GAM totals for each team were released by MLS today.
00:52:32
Speaker
And i think a lot of people were surprised at how much money the Sounders were showing up as having available. Now, theoretically, what this number is illustrating is how much money each team has left after becoming roster compliant.
00:52:50
Speaker
So meaning that as of February 20th, they needed to be roster compliant, meaning they had to ah the money they were going to use had to get used. And the Sounders, according to this, only have about $250,000 of money.
00:53:02
Speaker
which is not very much money
00:53:07
Speaker
But there's a caveat there, a rather large caveat. And from what we can tell, the money that they got from transfers has not yet hit their books.
00:53:18
Speaker
They potentially have some money from the Josh Atencio trade last year that's still going to hit the books. So their picture is a little more positive than it may appear based on that document.
00:53:31
Speaker
I know people don't like to hear this, but if anything...
00:53:36
Speaker
Craig and the Sounders have been very smart about the use of GAM. They have an and enough roster compliance. they have you know You don't want to be like LAG where they got zero GAM right now They had to ship players out. You want to keep your team in balance. And sometimes that means leaving some of that GAM to roll over for next year. So they're being they're being mindful. So you're absolutely right.
00:54:02
Speaker
They're waiting for money on Danny Leyva. They're waiting for money on Obed Vargas. They're waiting on money for Reed Baker Whiten. They're waiting on ah money that they're going get added after a couple of of certain more more minutes to be had by Josh Atencio that are going to hit in terms of Colorado. So there's money coming. And...
00:54:27
Speaker
I think we were all aware that the summer window was going to be the one where the Sounders were going to be able to decide what holes they needed to cover because it's going to be an assessing period all the way through
Strategic Management of GAM
00:54:41
Speaker
the summer window. So if Kim Kihee continues to have physical issues, if Stu...
00:54:49
Speaker
Can't get fit. Can't get fit. If Ryan Saylor can't get fit. If Ryan Saylor never comes back from D.C., you know, whatever happens, you have to figure out, this is where I need to add a center back, or this is where I need to add a midfielder if things aren't working, or maybe a nine, whatever it is. So it does give the Sounders, in my opinion, good...
00:55:12
Speaker
of what's going to be coming in the summer. Yeah. And then they'll take care of it then and then. Now, the interesting part there or the caveat there so that everybody doesn't get super excited because we don't like that. We can't have that. We don't like to be excited. Is that the transfer budget is still...
00:55:32
Speaker
A concern, Jeremiah? Yeah. i The sense I get is there is an ongoing frustration or tension, and maybe iss a better way to put it, between what the talent people want and what the money people are willing to provide.
00:55:46
Speaker
And i don't have specific numbers or specific examples necessarily, but my impression is that the Sounders will be able to create the salary cap flexibility to do whatever the budget allows. Now, what will the budget allow?
00:56:01
Speaker
That's an unknown right now. ah Could they theoretically come up with a way to bring in a DP? Probably. and MLS rules are pretty squishy.
00:56:13
Speaker
They have flexibility if they want it. I'm not saying they should go out and get a DP, but I think my point is that I think they have the potential flexibility to do almost anything they want.
00:56:24
Speaker
What will they do? I don't know because i I don't get the sense that there is a big pot of actual transfer budget being waiting to be spent. And that's going you know, handicap you when it comes to the bigger players, when it comes to the bigger names, when it comes to the biggest prospects. So it's going to once again fall onto the responsibility of an already tired scouting department that's going to have to pick up every rock and every stone to figure out where, you know, they could find some value, some pearls, yeah some diamonds in the rough. And, uh,
00:57:01
Speaker
I think that there is a universe where with the potential sell of the Allen State for the sound for the Seahawks, you know if there is an owner that has the the vision that they want to take that 20%?
00:57:21
Speaker
25% is what the Allen estate owns. And they could theoretically combine that with the 20% that is currently for sale as an equity share for the Sounders. oh And right there, you have ten like that by itself might be enough to get to a new majority owner.
00:57:37
Speaker
and if that And that could change everything. ah You know, I'm not sitting here saying the center's got to sell and they got to get, you know, ah a big sugar daddy to be running the team.
00:57:50
Speaker
But I also don't know that, you know, Adrian Hanauer and company are going to say no. If that happened if that if that happens, I think they would be probably happy to.
00:58:00
Speaker
turn over the keys to someone who has big ambitions and wants to keep the Sounders at Lumen Field and, you know, turn them into the super club that a lot of people think they they could and should be.
00:58:12
Speaker
But that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves for right now. The budget is what it is, and they are compliant. There's not the good news is that there's not any obvious holes assuming health.
00:58:26
Speaker
Agreed. The bad news is that they aren't healthy and that I think this is actually a prudent thing to do is to assess your team for the first half of the year. And then once we get close to summer, reassess and say, look, we are thinner at center back than we thought we were going to be. We're thinner at winger.
00:58:44
Speaker
We need another forward, whatever it might be. And say, we got to go find that player. Maybe it's a U22. Maybe it's a TAM signing. Maybe it's someone from within league. But my point is that they'll have the flexibility to make some of those choices Hopefully, ownership will be on board to you know pony up some transfer budget if that's what it comes to.
00:59:04
Speaker
But yeah, i wouldn't i know ah I'm sure there were people that were freaking out about that number because it was smaller than we thought. like Where did they spend $5.3 million dollars and between the two releases? And I guess I'm here to just tell you it's fine. i Don't panic.
00:59:21
Speaker
Yeah, and if you are wondering where that money went, that that money went to um getting gettingating the affairs for Hassani Dotson, the new who getting extended, Danny Musowski, Alex Rodan. Alex Rodan. And then a couple a few other, feel like there was a couple other signings. But yeah, I mean...
00:59:45
Speaker
and they had to, I mean, that was also money that was not accounted for from rolling over either. Like they, there was already, they were already over the budget. Right. So. Oh, and that also it goes into Paul Rothrock's extension extension, all of that stuff. I mean, it's all there and.
01:00:03
Speaker
It didn't just disappear. It didn't just disappear. Correct. And, but I understand the questions and that's why I brought it up because, you know, I did hear a lot of people confused. Where'd this go? What happened? We thought we had a lot of money and when we don't. I had somebody tell me, did they buy down Jordan Morris? Like, no, did not buy down Jordan Morris. I keep hearing that from everybody. They did not buy down Jordan Morris. Can't happen.
01:00:24
Speaker
They did not buy down Jordan Morris. By the way, in case this has not been repeated enough, Jordan Morris Jordan Morris cannot be bought down. He is ah over the threshold that allows him to be bought down. So even if the Sounders wanted to buy him down, that is not how it works. They could not do that.
01:00:39
Speaker
All three Sounders DPs currently are above the threshold. ah Just to sort of get this out of the way, if they were to open up, since I mentioned the DP thing, I guess I should explain this. The only way that they could open up a DP spot is if they re-signed one of their three guys at a number that brought the brought it below the $1.8 million dollars and change.
01:01:02
Speaker
And as of right now, there's no indications that they are. I'm just saying that they potentially could if they wanted to. But it's they would have to they would have to commit more long-term money to any of those players in order to do that.
01:01:13
Speaker
But they are getting a DP, Jeremiah. They're getting a DP. They're getting a DP in May because Pedro de la Vega will be back in May. So it's like a new DP. There we go. back no funny Funny story about that is that I am hearing that he is either ahead or right on schedule. We saw him yesterday on on Thursday out there doing a lot of some pretty...
01:01:39
Speaker
I wouldn't call it just cardiovascular work. He was doing some real high intense resistance and and other type of work. So you can't question his motivation to get back. I think if anyone wants to prove his worth, it's Pedro. I mean, I i love him when he's healthy.
01:01:56
Speaker
i love i love his whole mentality. i love how engaged he's trying to remain with the team. I'm really you know, I'm I'm still bullish on his ability to contribute to this team. Yeah, and I think he will. And I think it'll be right off the bat.
01:02:11
Speaker
Obviously, for you guys that might have forgotten that it was a bone injury. So bone injury, as long as that bone heals, you're ready to go. It's all about just keeping the muscles around all equally, yeah you know, strengthened. And that's what he was doing yesterday, study a lot of strength and conditioning. So I do think that he's ahead of time. So that's going to be ah interesting interesting how that works out because... He does give you that X factor. He does give you that other guy that's edgy, that's different, that's going to amplify everything that you do. So, you know, there are brighter days ahead there, Jeremiah. Yeah.
01:02:44
Speaker
ah All right. Well, before we get out of here, a couple sort of housekeeping notes. One is that you have an interview with Jao Paolo coming up next week. It's a video interview, part of your Coach's Corner series. you You are doing more interviews this year than you've done in the past, which is great. where A lot of those are going on video.
01:03:05
Speaker
And sort of more broadly, we are going to be leaning more into the lobbying, putting more of our stuff into the Lobbying Squirters channel. There's going to be an announcement probably pretty soon related to that. But it's ah it's a good interview with JP that you did.
01:03:18
Speaker
And it's a reminder to try to get out to some Defiance games. They they play fun games. JP is out there. what did you Anything you want to share about your JP interview before we... As a teaser?
01:03:30
Speaker
theres a teaser that you have to hear it because there is something endearing about someone who's so true to themselves and so committed to his profession.
01:03:46
Speaker
Probably the biggest teaser is that he felt like he didn't get to say goodbye to the fans. And you're wondering... But JP, you're still here. But he said, no, I'm no longer here. JP, the player, is gone. Yeah. And he didn't get to say goodbye. So we talked to him about that, and and it's just so heartwarming. I just love the guy, that that the way in which he talks about this adaptation, this transition. Things as simple as some hobb some hobbies that he picked up because now he has some extra –
01:04:19
Speaker
Energy. Yeah. You know, he said not time. He said, you know, I feel like my days are longer as a coach, but he's you energy wise. yeah He's got just a different you know level. way He needs that competition. He needs that drive. So you got to listen to it. I absolutely love it. and We're going to be doing more of these because I do feel like people really enjoy them. So, yeah, check that out. It's going to be on Loving Scorchers. On Loving Scorchers, just like the Roldan brother interview was, which we did in Spain. We just finally released the video.
01:04:48
Speaker
If you are a listener of the podcast, you may have already seen that or heard that interview. But I do think it's one of those things. It's fun to watch these interviews, especially the way Alex and Christian interacted. And so that's that's a fun interview that's also on the Lobbying Scorchers YouTube channel.
01:05:04
Speaker
ah You can check that out. And i think that's that's what we got today. This is a long one. We had a lot to unpack. No, I'm glad. I'm glad that we got it all out of the way. As always, thank you, everyone, for the support, the comments. If there's, you know, ideas you guys got out there, we'll be in the socials. Just always excited to see more and more people just really enjoy the additional content. I think this is the the most content I've seen from the Sounders yeah since I've been covering the team. And that's a long time. It's 2010, 2011. But, yeah, you just it's great.
01:05:40
Speaker
Yeah, the and hopefully the audio this time was little better than the last time. Apologies for that. We were kind of scrambling to figure out how to... We didn't have the normal equipment we have, which we have today.
01:05:51
Speaker
so hopefully this audio came in a lot better. so Jeremiah was too busy signing checks exactly for people. And then we had to figure out... Writing rent checks.
01:06:02
Speaker
Oh, man. but no it's it's Coming together, though. It's starting to come coming together. We're going to have some pictures on the wall soon. Be good. And we're going to be in Spokane, right? I think we are going be in Spokane.
01:06:15
Speaker
We're going to, I think and I might even be going to Vancouver. It's going to be a very busy time for the Sounder at Heart a travel budget. hey Well, there you go. There you go. But if you are in Spokane, reach out. yeah don't say hi yeah we're I think we're going to be doing a live show at along with the Spokane soccer show at Flat Stick Pub, which is sort of the normal gathering place before the games there.
01:06:42
Speaker
So hopefully people will come out and say hi If you're in Spokane, definitely come out and say hi. If you're traveling over from the the wet side, please come say hi. We would love to see people.
01:06:53
Speaker
And yeah, you and I are going to be going on a road trip. Yes, sir. We're going to hit it. I got snacks there. my I got snacks. going be young Mr. Moreno.
01:07:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. My my my son. yeah My son's going to be going with us. couple his friends going to be a good time. Thankfully, we've got plenty of room there. But, yeah I'm excited. I'm excited to just see it all, see the atmosphere, the people that are going to be out there. that The guys seem to be, you know, excited about just some kind of different. I mean, doing it as one-off.
01:07:24
Speaker
I think it's easy to get excited. One off. Yeah. If it had to be multiple times throughout the year, you'd be like, what are we doing here? You guys got to close the year in Spokane. Exactly. Exactly. All right. Well, hopefully we have some good weather, but with that said, we're going to get out of here. I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno part. This is no Saudi atas part of the center our podcast network, and we will catch you next time.
01:08:18
Speaker
Let's go and sounders.